« TAB Must Talk | Main | Let the Fun Begin »
June 12, 2005
Berg's Blast -- Barbara's Olive Branch
A rather incendiary op-ed in today's Houston Chronicle by local attorney (and Democratic Party donor) David Berg, criticizing Dem Party Chair Howard Dean has set off quite an online buzz. Not surprisingly, response from Dean-backers and some other progressives has been swift and angry.
Berg's argument, essentially, is that Dean damages Democrats with Independents and "soft" Republicans by using inflammatory rhetoric. For example, he thinks Dean saying many Republicans have never made an honest living sends the wrong message to folks in the middle Democrats would like to reach.
Dean-backers respond that trying to appease the center -- Republican lite -- hasn't worked since Bill Clinton left office, and it's time to reinvigorate and expand the base on the left, swing voters be damned.
Houtopia is no oracle -- it's simply not possible to know right now which course is the right one -- so we'll see. We frankly agreed with some of Berg's points, though his tone was strident to the point of being counter-productive. Democrats need a broad appeal to win nationally, and most definitely in Texas. We have always been, and should continue to be a "big tent" party that welcomes, not discourages diverse views. It's what we're all about.
On the other hand, what's wrong with a party chair being vociferously partisan? Nobody seemed to mind Ed Gillespie's strident rhetoric during the last election cycle. Governor Dean is not a publicly elected official, and says he has no plans to run for president again. For all the gloom and doom about fundraising being poor during his young chairmanship, in fact, donations to the Democratic Party are up significantly compared to this time in 2003. We think he deserves some latitude to do his job.
We also, however, take to heart something Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee said at a recent Harris County Democratic Party event. Right now, more than ever, the Democratic Party needs a united public front. These kinds of disputes should be resolved "inside the family" -- not on the pages of our national newspapers and on cable news shows. Combatting the GOP extremist agenda is enough to tackle without fighting each other in public to boot.
In that spirit, we refer reader's to U.S. Senate Democratic hopeful Barbara Radnofsky's message of this afternoon. She strikes exactly the right tone in striving to bring people together, both within and outside the Democratic Party. It is a message worthy of someone with her wealth of mediation experience. (Once reaching her site, scroll down past the pictures to "Barbara's Letter to the Houston-area DNC Members.")
Brava Barbara!
Posted by houtopia at June 12, 2005 07:10 PM